01/23/2026
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The Fool, as an archetype, lives somewhere along a spectrum between the Child and the Trickster. The archetype borrows the simplicity and innocence of the Child and the Tricksterโs incredible ability to pierce delusion and hypocrisy with cunning wit. The Fool, in these ways, stumbles honestly into revelation thanks to his clumsy, open-heart.
The Fool tends to represent that which the larger culture or even personal psyche does not value. It seems to be a fact of nature that whatever falls out of consciousness inevitably finds its way bubbling back to the surface, whether through some crack in the wall or plugged up drain.
And in this way, the Fool returns, again and again, to challenge our notion of whatโs right and respectable. The archetype lives in the collective junkyard of our personal and collective unconscious, where transcendent alchemy waits.
The Fool, due to their innocence, is unafraid of what we keep in our shadow. โFools rush in where angels fear to tread,โ goes the old saying, and here those angels act a lot like our egosโwhite-knuckled and terrified of what lies beyond the edge of light where all our unwanted thoughts and behaviors have been stuffed away like skeletons in a closet.
Where we might be afraid to travel and even more afraid to interact, the Fool is unconcerned. This archetype is able to approach the molehills we so fear to be mountains and accept our inner monsters for the wounded children they truly are.
One of the main lessons the Fool teaches, and this is often done through humor, is to remind us that we all are capable of tripping on our shoelaces or farting at a funeral.
Though the archetype likely couldnโt give word to the sentiment, it remains nonetheless trueโโnothing human is alien to me.โ Similarly, the Fool is not interested in strategic plans or long-term goals.
The Fool lives within the flow of life, free from social constraints and expectations, and able to live as if without a personaโunfiltered, unvarnished, and wholly oneself. The Fool is not unlike the Zen concept of beginnerโs mindโopen hearted, open-minded, available to discovery and surprise.
excerpt from this monthโs newsletter
